Developer Robert Yang has taken his experiences making smart, critical "sex games" and turned it into a manifesto about "game development as cultural work." He argues that games exist in a cultural economy where playing is only one vector for engagement.

"To “consume” a game, it is no longer necessary to play it. Rather, the
most important thing about a game is that it exists, because that means
you can think about it."

At Kill Screen, Will Partin takes long look at the history and design of prisons and the areas where Prison Architect might fail its subject matter, concluding that while the title is engaging enough as a game, it utterly fails
as either simulation of or commentary upon its subject matter: